Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tartarus
by Demento56
Summary: This is, readers, my first story, but this time, it's all in one place!
1. Chapter 1

Percy Jackson + The Olympians

**Alright, so this is my first fanfic, so please don't kill me in the reviews, ok?**

**Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tartarus**

Percy's POV

Alright, so let me get this straight, ok? 2 years ago, I became a god on my own, and for this so-called "blasphemy", I was sentenced by Zeus to guard the entrance to Tartarus for 200 years. Of course, being a god, I immortalized my friends so I could see them again. 2 days a year, my friends get to come down into Hades and say hi. Now, it's actually not that bad, you know? It's really kind of fun, throwing in the occasional mouldy apple core and listening to Kronos rant on and on about his great vengeance he's going to get on me someday, although, after 2 years, it kind of gets boring. So anyways, today is visitation day, and the guys are coming through the entrance in Central Park- that is, Grover, Thalia and Nico. Annabeth is coming through the Hollywood sign- closer to her. Annabeth should be here in about 20 minutes, and I can just see Grover and the rest of the gang just across the Styx.

"WOOHOO!" Yeah, that was Grover finding out the Underworld cafeteria has enchiladas. So after a nice little chat with Thalia and Nico- Grover was busy stuffing his face with cheese enchiladas- I decided to pull a little prank. I found a couple little rocks and hid them in the enchilada at the top of Grover's pile. Sure enough, he grabbed it and- stuffed it in his mouth. He finally noticed that the rest of us were gaping at him. "What?" The rest of us just burst out laughing. Just then, I spotted Annabeth coming over a rise.

After the greetings and all, lots of hugs, I told the gang about my plan to get out of Tartarus. "... So, in the end, all I'd have to do is leave an illusion here and nobody would ever know!" Grover, Nico, and Thalia seemed fine with the plan, but Annabeth was worried. She asked, "I don't know Percy. What if something happens while you're gone?" I smiled at her concern. "Hey, Annabeth- I haven't been out of Hades for nearly 2 years! It's been a year, 11 months and 30 days- why of all days would something happen _to_day? Besides, it'll only be for today." She was reluctant, but she eventually agreed to my plan.

I had conjured up an illusion and we were just leaving. We faced a little problem at the River Styx- the ferryman Charon knew I wasn't allowed to leave Hades. For a god, though, it was a simple matter of making myself invisible and slipping him a couple drachmas.

Kronos' POV

Ha-ha, foolish godling! As if I couldn't hear what happened on the edge of Tartarus! Nobody ever comes in here, so nobody knew that I had already reformed and was capable of leaving as soon as I wanted. All that was left was to alert my followers and then have them prepare the world for my domination, starting with Olympus!

Fortunately, I can plant messages in the minds of my minions, meaning that in 30 human minutes, my way was walked, flattened, and paved with gold bricks. I climbed out of the pit the mortals used to Tartarus and teleported straight to the western exit so I wouldn't have to cross the Styx. After I defeated the gods, I would imprison them in Tartarus, starting with that fool Jackson!

Percy's POV

So, after being stuck in Hades for two years, I still hadn't forgotten all my favourite joints. We got lunch at a McDonalds on First Street- except for Grover, who was still digesting his enchiladas. We'd barely left when I had a feeling of impending doom and looked up to see storm clouds blanketing the sky, which moments before had been a clear blue, obscured by nothing but the occasional bird. We were all sitting in Central Park having a great time when Grover caught my eye and followed my line of sight. Then, of course, he bleated and fainted. Then, of course, everyone wanted to know a) why it just got so much darker, and b) why the heroic goat boy fainted. I just told them to look up. Then came the omen, just when I thought it couldn't possibly get any worse. It was a cloud in the shape of a scythe.

We immediately notified Chiron, and even though this was completely my fault, he did a pretty good job of not exploding at me. Alright, so maybe I changed the story a little, so that he had overpowered me and then left, but what he didn't know couldn't hurt him, could it? He might not have exploded, but he did panic. And scream. "But Percy! This is terrible! Alert the gods! Rally the campers! Come on, we're going to Olympus!" A lot of the campers screamed too. Seriously, how is that Aphrodite's kids are all so high-pitched when they scream? I was all but bleeding at the ears here! I wasn't as worried as the campers, being a god and all, but I could still get stuck in Tartarus for the rest of my sentence in Hades and then some, couldn't I? Actually, I was kind of worse off than the demigods, because they could only be tortured for so long, but I could be tortured until I faded or the end of time, whichever came first.

Chiron's POV

When Percy had come back to camp, I was astounded, because I had no idea he had become a god. Even more astounding though, was the news that he brought. I couldn't believe that Kronos had been able to somehow regain- well, any kind of form, actually. And now, the world's worst Titan had been loosed from Hades. He was free to gather allies- Typhon, for one, and Oceanus. Perhaps Prometheus again, and definitely Hyperion and Atlas, if he could find someone else to bear the weight of the sky.

Of course, when all of this ran through my head, I knew we had to go and help defend Olympus from the wrath of the Titans. Fortunately, we had many more campers this time around, due to the promise of the gods from last time. And now that all the campers were claimed, there were no campers who felt enmity towards the gods.

Annabeth's POV

So we got to camp by taking a taxi, and told Chiron a little white lie about how Kronos got out of Hades. He called in the Delphi Strawberry Company vans again, and we spent twenty uncomfortable minutes in the back of a van getting into New York, where we booked like, literally 100 or so hotel rooms so we could have a little privacy while we rested up for the war that was inevitably going to happen in two or three days.

2 days later

Percy's POV

We knew the time had come when the lookout, Connor Stoll, spotted the whole city of New York fall asleep. Kronos must have recruited Morpheus again, which in turn meant that some of the gods didn't appreciate the promise they were forced to make 2 and a half years ago, just after the first war with Kronos. Apparently, Kronos didn't need a lot of attention this time, at least not until he took Olympus, so he couldn't risk reducing the size of his army fighting satyrs and nymphs or naiads.

**So, how was that? Not too bad, right? No, seriously! Tell me in the reviews. Also, I made a poll and a forum concerning this war, and I can't really go on until you guys tell me how the war is going to end so it can go along accordingly. The poll closes in a week, so hurry up! If you don't like any of the choices in the poll or have some other ideas, tell me in the reviews or the forum, whichever one is easiest for you guys, ok? Oh, and I had no help writing this chapter whatsoever, so don't let any fool *cough*Nobody426*cough* you! See you in about two weeks! (One week for the poll, one for me to write the next chapter)**


	2. Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tartarus Ch 2

**Alright guys, I know I've been out for a while. Oh, ok, fine, months! But there's a good reason for that- I'm convinced I'm a terrible writer. Also I'm****going to have a ton of math homework because I'm two years ahead of my age. Anyway, I'll try to make up for that in this chapter.**

**Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tartarus Chapter 2**

Percy's POV

We knew we had no chance against an army of that size, so our only choice was to try and trap small groups of their soldiers and eliminate those, 10 at a time. However, we had only about 50 or 60 campers plus 25 Hunters, better than last time, but this time we couldn't count on gods to help us- except me. And I had only been a god for two years, meaning my powers were practically limited to pretty flashes and party tricks. I didn't like it, but we were going to lose campers and Hunters, no matter how good our tactics. We couldn't count on the gods because they were arguing about some petty thing. As if who Gaea liked best really mattered when Olympus was about to be torn down, but that was Zeus and Poseidon for you.

Annabeth's POV

I mean, we all knew Percy was a god and a great leader, but battle tactics was really for the Athena cabin. We decided that because the most devastating of Kronos' forces were stronger at night, we could count on his army sleeping during the day, when we could send small strike forces consisting of two archers with daggers just in case, and one normal warrior to cover them if worst came to worst and they had to retreat. Of course, monsters like drakons were fine in the day, so they'd have to be careful, and we'd post guards and lookouts. We'd have to be like the Maasai, ready to fight within seconds of waking. Of course, if that was the case, we'd have a long, drawn-out war, plus we'd be trapped with limited supplies. It might not have been ideal, but if we had an ideal world, I'd be running it. Oops, that's the hubris talking. No, hubris is _**not**_ a drug, and if you joke about that, I'll rip your tongue out.

Percy's POV

Alright, so I'm a god and everything, but honestly, without Annabeth, I'd be leader of a mob. She spoke to the army, motivating them, encouraging them, writing speeches for me, big stuff like that. Personally, I have the motivating skills of a brick- brute force, and that's about it. The first big scare was two days after we had settled in for the war. I was sound asleep, dreaming of- well, that you don't need to know. Michael Yew was on lookout duty that night, and he again came through- a small regiment composed of dracaena led by Luke. Oh, I guess I should explain about that- Luke was reborn, because remember, he tried for the Isles of the Blest. Apparently, Kronos found him and restored him to his previous state, meaning a perfect host.

We had no choice, so there was only one option- CHARGE! Our archers covered us as we ran among the enemy, stabbing snakes left and right. I had a different goal in mind, however- Luke. I spied him immediately, but there were several snake-women in the way, so I dispatched them. I finally reached Luke, and with a touch of friendly banter- alright, murder threats, but its Kronos and the god designated to keep him in Tartarus! What would you expect, greeting cards and gift baskets? So after the pleasantries, sparks flew as swords clashed. It was a heated battle, but I was invincible **and** a god, and he was only invincible. Plus, I knew his weak spot, but he didn't really know mine. In the end, even though I had a clear advantage, we were forced to call it a draw, because he had run out of troops and my men were exhausted.

Kronos' POV

The insolent little godling and his army of runts! They won that skirmish only through sheer luck and that moronic fool Jackson! He would pay! But I needed more troops and more supplies, as well as time to re-adjust to this mortal's body again. However, this time the drakons would not have been defeated so easily, because this time, I had 3! Mwahahahaha! (Sorry about that, I couldn't resist) Anyway, the drakons were to be deployed at dawn, but the fools ruined my plan again! They had drugged the drakons' meal, meaning they couldn't be roused, and taking advantage of my anger, they knew I would destroy the drakons and their feeders. I had let my anger get loose, and they knew I would! I would have to up the security to weed out their spies and destroy them!

Percy's POV

Our plan to rid ourselves of the drakons had worked down to the tiniest detail, and we knew it when we heard screams and saw drakon-coloured smoke coming from their camp in Central Park. Tonight, we would send out a raiding party to steal their supplies and strengthen ourselves. For moral support, I would join in the party. It would be composed of 2 archers, a tracker to see where the guards' rounds were, and 4 strong warriors to steal the food. So that night, we had the perfect conditions- low moonlight, cloudy sky, and no rain that would make us leave tracks and rust our armour and ruin the archers' bows. It was, according to Annabeth, "idiot-proof". Unfortunately, I was one heck of a pro at screwing things up, and tonight, I would strike again.

The first part of the plan was perfectly executed. We slipped out of base at 11:30 and made our way to Central Park. We managed to make it to their unguarded area and into the storeroom. We were looting as much as we could stuff into our backpacks, and carrying as much as we could. We had almost made it out when my foot got caught on a pedestal that had held 3 jugs of nectar and 2 glass sculptures of Kronos. We had taken the nectar, but the statues made a crash worthy of Zeus' master bolt. From that point on, we hurried out as fast as our little legs could carry us and still keep our balance. We had almost made it out of range of arrows and magic when one of the soldiers was shot in the arm. Not deadly, but enough to make him drop his load and run to the hotel we had made our base, yelling for help. Another 3 steps and we were out of range. We were welcomed with open arms, but the healers snatched a bit of nectar and a few squares of ambrosia for the injured guy. However, now we had a bigger problem- Kronos' army knew we were raiding them, and where. That meant we'd have to find their blind spots all over again if we wanted to raid them again. That was three days worth of hard work, right there, all because of my foot.

**Well? How do you guys like it? Sorry it took me so long to update, but, hey, I've had a ton of homework, and I'm in a lot of extracurricular activities along with my birthday on the 30th****(yay :D) So... tell me how you like it and I'll start the next chap soon as i get the first critical review (I mean constructive, not mean)**


	3. Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tartarus Ch 3

**Wow guys, thanks for reading my last chapter! This is Demento56 again, with another chapter. I'm pleased to see I have a few hits, and I just want to thank everyone out there for reading my story. Alright, now, on to the story!**

**Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tartarus Chapter 3**

**Percy POV**

So, it took us actually 5 days to figure out the guards' patrol route, because they changed the route every 3rd day, but it didn't take the Athena cabin 2 route changes to find the pattern. So, yeah, they're just that smart. Also, in case you're wondering, the supplies we nicked really helped us out, because some of Kronos' troops were going to bed hungry now, while our campers had dinner in their stomachs every night. So anyway, two nights after the raid, I started thinking (**A.N.**insert canned gasps here), if I could control water, then isn't blood mostly water? What if I could manipulate Kronos' own troops? I tried as soon as I could, on one of his demigods. It worked perfectly. He was in the middle of a patrol, with a couple monsters. My ability was so good; I even kept his mouth shut so he couldn't warn them. Of course, I was helped by the fact he had his weapon out already, so the monsters didn't notice a thing. One of the Apollo campers picked him off after I was done, so there was no evidence besides his body.

**Annabeth POV**

Alright, I'll admit it-Percy had a good idea for once, and it actually worked. He had perfect control over the demigod, and managed to weaken Kronos' forces without injuring any of ours. There was one drawback though- every time he did, he collapsed. Apparently, manipulating blood takes a lot more energy than manipulating water, so he can't use that technique too often. Of course, every time he does it, it seems to take less energy, so maybe it gets easier with practice, like almost anything else. The Athena cabin was working overtime planning strategies and all that. Even when Chiron arrived with reinforcements, centaurs like last time, we worked harder trying to make the best possible use out of the new troops. What made our job even harder was the fact that every 3 days, we had to re-figure out the patrol routes for Kronos' perimeter so we could keep staging raids to keep ourselves going. We almost never had a moment's rest, and worse, there were almost regular battles between us and the Titan's forces. Naturally, we had to participate in these fights, or there could be consequences much worse than a few bumps or scrapes. The Apollo cabin was also working hard, because they had the best archers besides the Hunters, and they were the best healers. Every time the raiders came back with gauze or nectar or ambrosia, they would run in and snatch most of it because there were always at least two seriously injured and a dozen more with minor injuries.

**Percy POV**

Okay, I'm glad Annabeth told that last part, because there was of lot of complicated stuff there, and I really didn't get it. All I really did was fight and whatever Annabeth told me to do or what I personally wanted to do. Of course, with so much fighting going on, what I really wanted-and didn't get, was sleep. Beautiful, glorious sleep! To lose consciousness and simply rest, that was what I wanted most during the first weeks of the war. After that, I got used to the tiredness, but it never went away. One of my limited godly powers was to create a light-proof barrier so nobody outside can see me, and so is safe from me practicing my godly form. As far as I could tell, it was just an enhanced, much more powerful version of my normal body. I felt, that as long as I was like this, Kronos didn't stand a chance. Of course, neither of us could use this form because he wasn't strong enough in Luke's body, and I was afraid of burning my own warriors. Luckily for me, all my arms and armour grew with me, because if they didn't, I wouldn't be able to fight. Unless my powers increased by a power of 10, or you could kill a monster with 3 foot fists. I don't know about other gods, but I am definitely not good enough with my hands to kill anything with two hands, let alone two fingers.

**Kronos POV**

From the surges of power I felt across the battlefield, I gathered that Jackson was practicing his true form. Luckily for me, he was too afraid to utilize that form for fear of his "friends'" lives. Ha! The weakling doesn't know that in battle, you have no friends, only pawns! How pathetic. He wouldn't destroy my entire army if it cost one of his friends' lives. He can hardly bring himself to kill my demigods, let alone destroy those that stand his way to power! If only my idiot son Poseidon had never sired him... It would have been so much easier to ascend to power and destroy Olympus! Ah, well, wishful thinking never got anyone anywhere, so, back to the battle at hand. In about two months, I would be powerful enough to incinerate this foolish demigod's body. And then, Luke Castellan would truly be no more, but not before I had vengeance on him for his cowardly actions in the last war. He cost me 2 years of Tartarus, and he will pay dearly!

**Alright, so how was it? I'm sorry there wasn't as much action as last time, but a guy needs to mix it up, you know? So, anyways, um, keep reading my stories, and if you know any friends who might like my stories, please recommend this to them, and keep reviewing! Oh, and I wrote this chapter in less than an hour, so I'm sorry if it's kind of short and not as good as the other chapters, but I saw how many hits I had, and I just got so excited and I just wrote this off of the top of my head. I'm also sorry I wrote this before any reviews, so I'm adding a poll- Who should win in this new war of Olympus, the Olympians, the Titans, or an anonymous figure? Answer in the reviews please!**

**P.S. If there is a new character, it will more than likely be somebody we know and love... Maybe Nico? Thalia? Anything's possible, but I'm not giving hints! :P See you next time!**


	4. Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tartarus Ch 4

Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tatarus

Chapter IV

**Author's Note: Hello everyone, it's been a while, hasn't it? Over a year now, my last story was published in October of 2010, and now it's November of 2011. I've read over my stories to make sure my storyline doesn't suddenly change, but I can say that I'm trying to make it better from now on. One of the complaints I got was that I changed points of view too often, so I'll try to fix that. Anyways, roll the story!**

**Percy POV**

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but I'm getting sick of always being in charge. After a while, having a reputation for always being right gets hard to deal with. I'm a god now, sure, but as it turns out, I'm still all too human. I make decisions in anger. Decisions that got people KILLED. It gets harder to sleep at night every time I make a decision like that. I wish I was still a demigod, because at least then, I could still be out on the front lines. Nowadays, the Athena cabin stops me going out there, says if I got captured, then the war's as good as over. They're right, of course, but that doesn't make it any easier to handle. That sounded bad, didn't it? I don't want to brag, but as a good man once said, false modesty is never admirable. I'm the last resort for the gods. If the Titan forces capture me and manage to get me close enough to Kronos, he could drain me of energy faster than you or I could draw a sword. If that ever happened, he'd regenerate to full power in an instant, and he'd be stronger than ever. We had a few close calls yesterday- a few dracanae almost overran the base, and we lost three demigods- I think the total now is somewhere around 150 able bodied troops. We're gonna have to get some more troops somehow if this war drags on, or we're gonna have to end it, and soon. Now would be the best chance to attack, while Kronos is weak- at least, it would be if we had any idea where he was. Just about then, one of the campers from the Athena cabin- I think her name was Melanie, she was a new kid- ran up to me and bent double, hands on her knees while she caught her breath. In between breaths, she managed to get out, "Annabeth said to get you, *pant* She thinks we found *pant* where they're keeping *pant* him while he regains his strength!*pant*" Naturally, I had no idea what she was talking about, so I asked. "Whoa there, slow down, and explain to me, slowly, exactly what you're talking about." "Annabeth told me to come get you and ask you to come to the intelligence center. We think we know where Kronos is!" At that, I turned smartly on my heel, got a face full of dirt for trying to turn smartly on my heel, and after picking myself up, I jogged on over to the intelligence center, where we had all the Athena campers and the other smartest campers stationed. Annabeth was at one of the tables, gray hair looking like a bird's nest, and a pencil tucked behind her ear.

**Annabeth POV**

I heard someone coming up behind me, but I was still trying to decode the last part of this message we had intercepted a few hours ago, so it came as a surprise when somebody shouted "BOO!" from behind me. I jumped, drawing a jagged line across my copy of the message, and turned to punch Percy in the arm, because it was indeed Percy. "What was that for, hmm?" I asked him. He replied, "You looked like you were asleep on your feet, so I figured you could use a wake-up call. You called for me?" Despite the fact that he had just made me ruin yet another copy of the message, I couldn't help smiling at him. As I recalled why I had sent Mallory to him, the smile slipped off my face. "Oh, yes. We intercepted an encrypted message from the Titan camp about… eight hours ago. It was from Atlas, regarding the regeneration of 'Lord Kronos'. It was in a pretty simple cipher- once you figured out the cipher changed every other line." "I don't know, Annabeth… They know we have the entire Athena cabin, and like you said, the cipher was pretty simple. It smells like a trap." His concern was touching, but it would only be a hindrance later. "Actually Percy, it wasn't regarding his current location, but where they're going to move him in three days. Naturally, that was encrypted in about… seven different codes, and you had to crack each one before getting to the next. We're still working on it." I saw his expression cloud over for a second, and then it cleared as he realized it probably wasn't a trap after all. Of course, the new location hadn't been encoded any more than the rest of the message, but if I told him that, he'd never agree to go. I was so zoned out that it took me a second to realize he was talking. "… Is this place exactly?" I couldn't let him know I hadn't been paying attention, so I snapped back to reality. "It's in New Jersey, as a matter of fact. In the deepest part of an old silver mine they found there." His brow furrowed as the full implications of what I'd just said hit him. "But… Isn't Kronos weak to silver? Why would they hide him in a silver mine if he's weak to silver?" That one stumped me for a minute. "We-ell, it must be because they know that we know that Kronos is weak to silver, so they think the last place we'd ever think to look would be in a silver mine!" "Oh, so it's a case of _they think that I'll think they'll do A, so they'll do B because I wouldn't think they'd think of that but then because I might think I know what they're thinking they'll do A after all because I wouldn't think they'd think that way_." There was a moment of silence while I tried to untangle what he'd just said. "Um, Percy? Could you repeat that?" He grinned and said, "You know what? I don't think I can." After that, we both started to laugh. It was than just funny, it wasn't just the humor of the situation, it was release. It was a way to release all the tension of the past few weeks, when we'd been fighting the Second Titan War day and night. When you're fighting a war like that, there's not a lot of chances to laugh like that.

**Mystery POV**

So, the fool Jackson had taken the bait. He would attack within the week, thinking to catch Kronos while the Lord was at his weakest. Fool. If he had known of the surprise in store for him, or my own identity, he would never have the nerve to attempt such an attack.

**Alright guys, that's it for chapter four! Sorry if the tense changes are a little confusing, but that's just how I am. Did I overdo the mystery character? Did I change POV too often? Please let me know! Well, I've typed my 1,000+ words for this story, so I'll see you all soon, hopefully!**


	5. The Final Chapter

Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tartarus

The Final Chapter

**Foreword: Well, readers, I've kept you waiting long enough. This story has spanned well over a year of my life now, and this is finally the chapter where it all concludes. As promised in some of my older chapters, it won't end quite the way you would expect it. Well, it's been a solid 14 months now, and I won't keep you waiting, so… roll… the final chapter!**

**Percy POV**

After Annabeth and I had finished laughing, the full impact of what had just happened hit me. This would be the final chapter of our stories- of the Titan Wars. One way or another, after the final blow on Kronos that would happen in four days, there would never be another war on the Titans. Either Kronos would be destroyed for the next several eons, or Kronos would topple Olympus and there would no longer BE anyone to wage a war on the Titans. It would have to be the largest operation Camp Half-Blood had ever pulled off. It would take every camper we had, and as much transport as we could lay hands on in seventy two hours. As soon as Annabeth decided we'd had enough time to relax, we pulled every camper into the command center for the briefing. As we'd expected, there was a general air of shock in the room after we finished the speech. It was several minutes before one of the campers found his voice. "But… This means… Kronos is going to be… eradicated, right?" As soon as he began to speak, the rest of the room seemed to find its voice as well, and a comforting babble settled into our ears. "Yes. This will be the final blow against Kronos," came my simple answer. The inquiring camper sank back into his chair as he digested that fact. "Get as much rest as you can, everybody, you'll need it. We move out in three days!" There was a round of cheering as the campers acknowledged the statement. I walked up to one of the Stoll brothers, and asked him to come out of the room with me. "Can you and the rest of the Hermes campers hotwire as many cars as you can? We've got a hundred and fifty demigods to get to Jersey, and something tells me the camp van won't do it." A mischievous glint crept into his eyes as he contemplated it. "All right, Percy. We'll do it." With that, he re-entered the room and rounded up the twenty or so campers who were the children of Hermes. After about an hour, I, along with Annabeth, had given every cabin a task, and we retreated back to the intelligence center, where we and the rest of the Athena cabin began to work on our plan of attack. Sixty hours later, the plan was done, and we beheld it in all its glory, stretching across three whiteboards and some sixty sheets of paper. It was a rather impressive plan if I do say so myself, and I do.

Twelve hours later- twelve short hours of sleep later- we all piled into the sixty or so vans the Stoll brothers had managed to hotwire. They had done one thing for the commanders though- they hotwired a limo for the command center. While the other head campers enjoyed the experience, Annabeth and I fell asleep in each other's arms. Just a few hours later, we pulled up two miles from the mine. We would go the last two miles on foot, as to avoid alerting Kronos' cronies. We had the Hephaestus cabin add a layer of silver to our celestial bronze weapons, just in case any one of us ended up facing Kronos alone. The Hunters, of course, needed no such help, seeing as they already shot silver arrows from their bows.

**Annabeth POV**

I woke up in the command limo, and more importantly, in Percy's arms. Actually, I'd woken up almost a quarter hour before, but I decided to enjoy the moment. After all, this could all too possibly be the last time I ever saw him… alive, anyways. Too soon, the convoy carrying Camp Half-Blood stopped, and Percy woke up. I pretended to be asleep, and he shook me gently, murmuring, "Come on, Annabeth. We're here." As we exited the car, I checked to make sure my dagger was loose in its sheath. It took a good fifteen minutes to get all the campers out of the vans- mainly because it took so long to wake up the Hypnos kids. We were all half asleep, but after we'd settled into the rhythm of the easy jog we chose, we woke up pretty quickly. I could see Percy jogging back and forth, giving encouragement to every cabin he came across. He knew every camper's name, too. He'd learn Mallory's soon enough, though she seemed happy enough with Melanie. We arrived at the mine not long after leaving the cars. I saw a different side of Percy now. This Percy was more focused, and he was no longer running around, offering encouragement. He had uncapped Riptide, and he ran more softly on his feet. If the regular Percy was his normal Greek aspect, then the best description of new Percy would have been his Spartan aspect. If we had ten or twenty warriors like him, I figure Kronos would last about four and a half minutes. Also, if worst came to worst, Percy could go into his true form and vaporize everyone except himself and Kronos, and then they could fight on even terms. At least, I hope they'd be on even terms. After all, Kronos was one of the original sons of Gaea and Ouranos, while Percy was just a demigod who became a god a few years ago. If everything went according to plan, though, Per- perhaps Kronos might actually be destroyed.

**Mystery POV**

The Chase girl seems to believe that her plan could actually defeat the Lord. She is gravely mistaken. For exactly the space of one minute, the upstart godling would be defenseless. One of the more subtle nuisances of immortality is the fact that it comes with a price. For exactly one minute every year, you were completely, totally defenseless. For Jackson, that one minute would happen in twenty-seven minutes. As they charged into the mine, they would find that it was not, in fact, a silver mine, but a gold mine. No ordinary gold mine, either- this gold was tainted with oricalcum, the metal that gave the Time Lord even greater power. By strange coincidence, this year, Jackson's defenseless minute came at the exact same time as the Lord Kronos' minute of greatest power. When the time comes, the upstart and his friends shall feel the wrath of the greatest Titan to walk the earth! Naturally, the Lord's spies- including myself- will be spared from such a doom.

**Percy POV**

It was time to enter the mine, and I could actually _feel_ a change coming over myself. I became more single-mindedly focused on victory. I was a warrior, in the purest sense of the word. I was a Spartan warrior, and felt as though I had fought alongside Leonidas- perhaps one of the most famous demigods in Hollywood. By strange coincidence, his actor in that movie, Gerard Butler, was also a demigod. I uncapped Riptide, and we closed in on the mine. With a word, I blew the plywood that barred our entry to shreds. I had no idea when I had learned to do that, or when I had become strong enough, but I wasn't complaining. As soon as the dust cleared, however, twenty dracanae swarmed out of the entrance. That was wrong- Kronos wasn't supposed to have any warning of our attack. Luckily for us, though, we didn't lose any campers, but one camper did get a nasty gash across the bicep, and we had to send him back to the Apollo cabin to get it checked. A bad start. We swarmed in, and it was pretty quiet for a few turns. Maybe the dracanae earlier were just guards, and they didn't have the chance to raise the alarm. Of course, the moment I thought that, the Minotaur came into sight. This was the third time I had come face to face with him. It's like Tartarus has a grudge against me or something, so it keeps vomiting the Minotaur out to try and kill me. For the third time, I prepared myself to fight a giant bull-man. For the third time, he lowered his head and charged. I sidestepped, waited for the moment, and swung my sword in a glittering arc, intercepting his neck and cutting his head off. For the third time, I watched as the Minotaur dissolved as all monsters do when they die. We kept walking, and we met a larger party of armed and armored dracanae. This time, they all grouped around me, and somehow, they knew to aim for the spot on the small of my back- the only place I could be harmed. Since I was a god now, it wouldn't kill me, but it could strip me of my invincibility, and the amount of energy released when it happened could easily kill all the campers. Something seemed wrong, though- Kronos would never have told the dracanae, who were basically foot soldiers in his army, about my weak point… Unless he knew that we would come. The only way he could have known that… It'd mean that Silena wasn't the only spy in the camp. I couldn't agonize about it now, though- there were about fifty lizard women trying to kill me. We dispatched them quickly enough, but there was one close call when a dracanae almost hit me, only to be killed at the last minute by an arrow from a Hunter. I spared a second to call, "Thanks," and then I had to stab yet another dracanae. We suffered another three injuries in that attack, and we had to send them all back to the Apollo campers at the entrance. As I turned to assess our troops, I noticed a glimmer of metal in one of the walls. I looked closer, and I saw something that disturbed me greatly. It wasn't silver that I saw- it was gold, tinted with a touch of red. I looked closer, and I realized it was oricalcum. I realized in a second that we had been tricked, but it was too late to turn back now- If we retreated, we would be at Kronos' mercy. Oh well, nothing for it now but to charge in and hope for a stroke or ten of luck. We progressed down the mine for about the next two hours, in largely the same way, losing a few campers at every attack, and every now and then, regaining a few as the Apollo cabin saw fit. Before long, we came to a chamber that must have been a good three miles underground, allowing for the huge arced ceiling, which stretched up at least a half mile. Sitting at the far side of the chamber, with one leg draped over the armrest of his throne, which was, of course, made of oricalcum. Being a Titan, he could chose to assume whichever form he wished, so for some reason, he looked almost exactly like Gerard Butler. His voice, though, was nothing like Butler's. Kronos' voice was deep and melodious, and it seemed to be streaked through with hints of magic. "Ah, Jackson and Camp Half-Blood. I have awaited you for some time now. I had assumed you would come sooner, as soon as the message allowed you to. Instead, you kept me waiting for an additional thirty-six hours. I am most… displeased." Annabeth moved closer to me, dagger drawn and held low in front of her in a two handed grip, ready to fight. Kronos lifted the third finger on his right hand, and an armed company of five hundred dracanae appeared from the shadows to ambush our company. It was sheer agony for me to watch as my campers were slaughtered. The only camper left after all the dracanae had dissolved was Travis Stoll, from Hermes, and he was slashed up pretty badly, even by demigod standards. He couldn't even stand up because he'd gotten stabbed through the thigh. Kronos raised his finger again, and one last dracanae lopped off Travis' head. In turn, I lopped off the dracaena's. Now the only ones left in the chamber were me, Annabeth, and Kronos. Kronos was a Titan who was multiple millennia old, and we were a three year old god and a demigod who was barely getting her mood swings. Naturally, we didn't do the smart thing and run. No, that's not what we do at Camp Half-Blood. Instead, we charged him head on. I was halfway to his throne and Annabeth was right behind me when there was a sudden pricking sensation in the small of my back- my only weak point. I felt a moment of pain, and then there was a flash of light. I landed on my stomach, but I managed to twist around onto my back to see if Annabeth was still alright, and to see who stabbed me. I vaguely heard Kronos' voice, telling me how he had modified his scythe so it could now absorb the essence of a god, and make that essence a part of his power. I didn't hear anything, though- I was in shock. The last thing I heard before I felt a sudden pain in my gut and I realized I was being absorbed into Kronos was a voice, saying, "Well Percy, it's finally over. I was a spy for the Lord ever since I came to Camp Half-Blood. He has promised me that when he overthrows Olympus, I will have everything I ever desired. I will redesign the human race in my own image. You might call it… the ultimate architecture. There was one thing I didn't expect, though. I never thought I'd fall in love with you, Percy." That was the last thing I ever heard. The last thing I ever saw was Annabeth's face, grinning down at me. The smile was full of greed, but there was a hint of sadness buried deep inside of it. The last thing I ever did was force out one word. "Why?" I couldn't fight being absorbed for long enough to hear the answer. I felt a pulling throughout my body, centering in my gut, where the pain had started. And then, there was nothing.

**Hello readers, it's me. It didn't end the way I originally intended it to, but I think I like it better this way. This story has spanned 16 months of my life, from August 2010 to November 19, 2011. Before today, there was something always nagging at me to finish this story. Now that I've finished the story, I feel like I've finally closed another chapter in my life. I started this story when I was twelve. Now, I'm fourteen, and I'm a different person than I was. I hope I've been able to bring you on as much of a journey while reading this as I have been on while writing it. It's now 8:40 PM on November 19, 2011, and this story is almost at its close. I have only one thing to say, but it may come a few days early. Don't worry though; this won't be my last story on this website. Goodbye for now, America, and happy holidays!**


	6. Author's Note

Author's Note Regarding the Fanfiction Percy Jackson, Guardian of Tartarus, by Demento56

Hello again, readers. This is the final addition to the story. I'm simply alerting you to the fact that I'm re-uploading all the chapters to this story in one story. I didn't do it at first because I uploaded three chapters before learning how to add chapters. Hopefully, it'll be easier for you all to read now. Also, I'm leaving all of my early chapters intact, in their original condition. It's purely for nostalgic purposes, you understand. Also, I apologize to everyone who reviewed my story before now. I'm deleting all of my stories before turning them into one big chapter. Now, truly for the last time on this story (I hope), this is the end.


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